A new solar panel array is to be installed at Worthing’s Splashpoint Leisure Centre after plans were approved.
At its meeting on Wednesday, September 18, Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee approved plans for 148 additional solar panels on the roof of the Brighton Road centre.
Splashpoint, which is owned by the council and operated by South Downs Leisure, applied for the new panels after securing funding from Sports England to reduce its carbon emissions.
Operating costs of the centre have gone up by 200 per cent, according to council officers at the meeting, who said the business model the centre was opened with in 2013 was ‘no longer viable’.
They said the centre’s carbon emissions from electricity generation, sitting at around 220 tonnes a year, would be reduced annually by 12.6 tonnes and save the centre about £19,000 a year in costs.
Currently, Splashpoint’s existing solar panels generate about 3.8 per cent of its energy, with the additional panels expected to increase that to about 5 per cent, according to officers.
Heritage group the Worthing Society objected to the plans, noting the nearby Beach House and its grounds had recently been included within the Steyne Gardens conservation area, and saying the new panels would affect the setting of the surrounding area.
They also said the building had won international recognition at the World Architectural Festival in 2013, saying the solar panels would change the shape of the roof – a ‘significant’ reason for the award, they said.
The Beach House Residents’ Association also objected to the plans, calling the building ‘grotesque’ and saying the solar panels would ‘detract’ from the ‘beauty of the area’.
Chair of the planning committee Andy Whight (Lab, Marine) said he would be ‘personally embarrassed’ to be the chair of the committee that approved the application, due to the ‘huge’ impact it would have on the ‘award winning’ building.
He said: “How lucky we are to have a building of such value in this town – for the sake of saving some £20,000 a year are we going to ruin this internationally award winning roof line.
Hillary Schan (Tarring, Ind) said the panels gave out a ‘positive message’ to visitors and residents and any investment in renewable energy would be ‘wise’.
She said: “I definitely hear that it’s marginal but we have to make marginal gains at this point. Personally I don’t find solar panels particularly offensive. I actually think that when you see solar panels, it presents Worthing as quite a forward-looking town.”
Samuel Theodoridi (Castle, Labour) said because the scheme was at no cost tp the council, it was ‘good value for money’ and would be ‘wrong’ for the committee to turn down the plans.
The committee approved the plans with five votes for and two votes against.
